Alok Kansal – General Manager of Western Railway conducted safety inspection of Mumbai – Valsad section of W. Rly’s Mumbai division and also took stock of various ongoing developmental and upgradation works of infrastructure & passenger amenities at Valsad station from 26th to 28th November, 2020.
He also interacted with the members of Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Daman and sought their views & opinions to workout better avenues for transportation of their products through railways which is cost effective as well as environment friendly. was accompanied by Divisional Railway Manager alongwith other branch officers of Mumbai Division. According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur – Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, GM Alok Kansal conducted window trailing inspection in Mumbai – Valsad section. He inspected various safety parameters of tracks and bridges such as quality of running, asset reliability, trespassing and reviewed arrears of maintenance with concerned officials.
He thoroughly reviewed the various safety related works such as the ongoing work of 25 Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) in Churchgate – Virar section as well as the ROBs & RUBs sanctioned in Churchgate – Surat section and emphasized on the commissioning of these works on war footing to prevent trespassing. 12 FOBs have already been commissioned during the COVID period in the Mumbai suburban section.
GM also took stock of ongoing Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) work; other infra works with safety specific directions. He called for a meeting to be convened with DFCCIL to assess the specific target dates as well as for joint inspection pertaining to the fencing work to be done alongside the tracks. He appreciated the cleanliness initiatives & also lauded the efforts taken by the division towards scrap disposal.
Later he conducted inspection of Valsad station, with special emphasis on the development as well as upgradation of infrastructural & passenger amenities work. On the passenger amenity front, Kansal inspected the ongoing works of escalator, Platform extension including checking the quality of drinking water of water booths.
During the course of inspection, he instructed for widening of the FOB stairs on PF 2/3 for better crowd management. He also directed the RPF to keep a check on unauthorized hawking over station premises. Thereafter, inspection of the 2nd entry area at Valsad station was done by GM wherein the yard modification work related to DFC was reviewed & directions to prevent soft encroachments were offered.
Thakur further informed that Kansal also chaired a meeting with the members of Chamber of Commerce and Industries (CCI) – Daman. This meeting was attended by the President & the prominent members of the Chamber of Commerce and Industries with representatives from plastic, steel & pharma companies. A presentation giving an insight of the freight incentive schemes, transportation products, terminal development & wagon incentive schemes were presented by DRM. The presentation gave an overview of facilities offered by Railway in this region.
GM Kansal quoting Prime Minister’s mantra of “Sab ka Saath….Sab ka Vikas” exhorted the freight customers to come forward and join hands with Railways on their journey towards Vikas. GM invited the customers to bring forth their suggestions & proposals that would suit them best and help to bring more traffic to railways. The members of the CCI informed that Daman is predominantly known for its Plastic Industry & that 17% of India’s plastic production comes from Daman.
GM also assured the gathering that every possible step shall be taken to redress their problems and to move forward with all the industries in the area while giving customized solutions at competitive prices with assured period of delivery. He further appealed them to instill faith & trust in the railways and reiterated with the motto – “Sab ka Saath…Sab ka Vishwas..Sab ka Vikas”.